Weekly news wrap-up
Co-News Editor Audrey Parrish discusses Joe Rogan, the Winter Olympics, Groundhog Day and other top stories you might have missed this week.
Hi everyone and welcome back to this week’s WSS Weekly News Wrap Up! I’m your host, Audrey Parrish, and today I’ll be bringing you an overview of what happened in the news this week at West, in Iowa, in the US, the world, and a bit of weird, fun news to top it all off. Let’s get started!
Earlier this month, the school-wide MLK day, where the administration had planned sessions to learn about Martin Luther King Jr. and what he stood for, was postponed because we did not have school that day, due to extremely cold temperatures. However, it has been rescheduled, to March 3.
Across Iowa, the COVID-19 case rate has decreased in the last few days. Overall, Iowa has a daily average of 2,746 cases, which represents 87 cases per 100,000 people, which is a 50% decrease since the average 14 days ago. Johnson county is doing even better, with a 53% decrease in cases since the average two weeks ago.
In the US, several artists, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchel have removed their songs from Spotify, in protest of Spotify’s decision not to remove Joe Rogan from their platform. Joe Rogan, the host of the podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, has 1,768 episodes, where he talks to all kinds of people, from writers to comedians, authors, restaurant owners, coaches, actors and many other professions. The controversy is over two episodes about COVID-19, in which he spoke with guests who were skeptical of the COVID-19 vaccine, and he was accused of spreading misinformation. In an apology, Rogan said that he would make an effort to interview more professionals in the future.
Now for some world news. It has only been five months since the end of the last Olympic games on August 8, 2021. However, today is the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics! Although these competitions usually occur two years apart, the summer Olympics was pushed back due to COVID-19. The winter games, however, are right on schedule. This year, the winter Olympics is being held in Bejing and will last until February 20.
In fun news Wednesday, February 2 was Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil did see his shadow, predicting another 6 weeks of winter. However, he has only been accurate 4 times in the past ten years, so it might not be too early to hope for warmer weather already.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you all next week!
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(she/her) Vivian Polgreen is a senior at West and it is her third year working on staff. She is the news editor and co-managing editor for the online publication....
(she/her) Audrey is a senior and has been on the West Side Story staff for 3 years. She is the Copy Editor for the WSS website this year. For fun, she...
(she/her) Helelia is a senior war at West and has been on staff for 3 years. She is the social media editor of all WSS accounts. She enjoys golfing and...
